Profile: Compared individually to fellow big league ready Brewers pitching prospects Wily Peralta and Mark Rogers, the 24-year-old Thornburg might be safer than Peralta and less injury-prone than Rogers, but he’s definitely not as enticing for fantasy purposes. After putting up great digits in the minors (2.77 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 10.3 strikeouts per nine career), Thornburg struggled mightily in the majors, giving up eight long balls in just 22 innings. That happened thanks to a fairly flat, straight fastball that he left up too often -- something he got away with in the minors. While Thornburg could develop into a back-end starter, his stuff would play up as a reliever, and his fantasy value for 2013 will depend on not only his role but also whether he can beat out -- and stay ahead of -- Peralta and Rogers, both of whom are more worthy of being drafted in deeper leagues. (Jason Catania)

The Quick Opinion: With the Brewers spending less money these days, Thornburg will get his chance. Will it come in the rotation or the pen?

Profile: Tyler Thornburg became a popular name in Milwaukee last summer, as he posted a 2.03 ERA and found significant success in August and September. However, those numbers were bolstered by a minuscule home run rate and a high strand rate. He didn't miss many bats and walked too many. Furthermore, his 7.1% swinging-strike rate suggests his low strikeout rate wasn't a fluke, as his true swing-and-miss pitch in the majors is his change-up. Considering his 4.45 SIERA, his impressive debut was more mirage than harbinger for future success. With the acquisition of Matt Garza, however, the right-hander should transition to the bullpen. The back-end of the bullpen remains rather entrenched for the Brew Crew, so to have any fantasy impact as a middle reliever or an occasional set-up man, he'll have to amass elite strikeout totals, and it just don't seem probable, even if his stuff plays up out of the bullpen. He's just not a viable fantasy option at the present time. (JP Breen)

The Quick Opinion: Barring injury or a heroic spring training, Thornburg projects to begin the 2014 season in the bullpen. He turned some heads with a 2.03 ERA in 66.2 innings last year, but his peripherals weren't pretty. His best chance for fantasy value lies in a high-leverage relief role. Even then, though, I don't see him missing an elite number of bats.

Profile: Thornburg was a revelation in 2013 -- albeit a seemingly lucky one. The righty swing man pitched to a 2.03 ERA over 66.2 innings with middling peripherals. A 1.4% home run per fly ball ratio looked exceedingly fortunate for a fly ball pitcher in Milwaukee. And yet, 2014 began with more home run suppression (2.8% HR/FB). Thornburg, who was used purely as a reliever, also buffed his swinging strike rate to 9.8% (8.5% is average). Unfortunately, his walk rate also spiked to an unpalatable 6.37 walks per nine. Thornburg hit the disabled list mid-season with an elbow injury and ultimately required a Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) injection. His status for 2015 is unknown. (Brad Johnson)

The Quick Opinion: Thornburg missed much of the 2014 season with an elbow injury. When he did pitch, a combination of a good whiff rate, terrible walk rate, and extremely low home run per fly ball ratio produced a viable, unconventional reliever.

Profile: Thornburg is almost a Lefty One Out GuY as a right-hander, with a 201-point reverse platoon split for his career. He was almost neutral in 2015 with just a 32-point split (actually favoring lefties, after smashing them the last two years), but it was another tiny sample of work -- this time 34 innings pitched after just 30 in 2014. The massive jump in home run rate (1.8 homers per nine) wasn't too surprising. Honestly, his 0.2 HR/9 in 2013-14 was actually much more surprising given just a 36% ground ball rate. Look no further than the 2% home run per fly ball rate to explain such home run suppression. The 17% mark from 2015 should regress back toward 11%, but there's no chance he plummets back down to those incredible levels from 2013-14. There are multiple reasons why he's not a great fit to replace Francisco Rodriguez, but his fly ball (and by extension, home run) tendency is chief among them. (Paul Sporer)

The Quick Opinion: Thornburg is a capable middle reliever, but that doesn't translate much on the fantasy landscape. Even in leagues that have use for middle relievers, they likely don't go deep enough to accommodate Thornburg as he doesn't have the gaudy strikeout rate that is so common among relievers these days.

Profile: Tyler Thornburg's 2016 campaign was his best. His arsenal didn't change — four-seamer, curve, changeup, although the latter two flip-flopped from 2015 — but his velocity did, picking up more than 4 mph on his curve and more than 2 mph elsewhere. It helped him add almost 12 percentage points to his strikeout rate (K%) and rack up an inordinate number of fly balls. Thorny may have benefited from luck - his .223 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) testifies as much, and his strand rate (LOB%) reached levels mostly unseen from him. While the latter seems extraordinary, an 80% strand rate is common for relievers, so that seems repeatable. Ultimately, his fly ball tendencies seem like a serious issue: his 32.4% ground ball rate (GB%) ranked in the bottom tenth of relievers last year, all of whom endured bad seasons, exclusive of Kenley Jansen and inclusive of his new teammate, Craig Kimbrel. Alas, a trade to Boston removed Thorny from Milwaukee's closer role. He figures to set up for Kimbrel, who has ceded few save opportunities the last six years, but Kimbrel's reign as a ninth-inning force appears to be approaching its demise. In other words, Thorny's chances of saves in Boston are better than any of Kimbrel's set-up predecessors. It makes him a worthy handcuff, so to speak, but his fly ball issues are still a cause for concern. He's valuable in leagues with holds; otherwise, he's a target merely in AL-only leagues. (Alex Chamberlain)

The Quick Opinion: Tyler Thornburg is slated to set up for Craig Kimbrel, whose grasp on the closer gig, while strong, is more tenuous than ever. Still, although Thornburg improved, he isn't poised to repeat the magic and may be a relatively disappointing holds (and now-and-again saves) candidate. He should be targeted in AL-only formats and leagues with holds, but he may be overvalued in 2017.